New Delhi, February 13
India, which has not formally endorsed the price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil imposed by the EU and other G7 nations in December 2022, is also benefiting from its dampening effect on oil prices, Germany’s top foreign and security policy official Jens Plötner has said.
Plötner, who is in New Delhi ahead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s scheduled India-visit later this month, underlined the importance of India’s voice in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict although Moscow was showing no “willingness’’ to stop the war.
Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022 and the almost year-long war has not just caused loss of lives and property but also disrupted global supply chains.
On Russian crude
Responding to questions on India’s continued purchase of Russian crude at a media briefing on Monday, the Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to German Chancellor Scholz, indicated that it was New Delhi’s decision but emphasised that the country had benefitted from the price cap imposed by the EU and other Western nations on Russia.
“We are quite satisfied with the effect this (the price cap) is having. And I would argue that even countries who are not formally part of this coalition, as India is not, are actually benefiting from the effects with prices going down. So, I think this is good news that Russia is not able to earn as much money as it did in the past,” Plötner said.
Plötner, who met his counterparts External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi, said that the voice of India was very important as it was listened to in Moscow. However, he said that mediation wouldn’t help as Russia was unwilling to withdraw its troops.
Migration issues
India and Germany also discussed legal migration of Indians to meet Germany’s needs for workers and Plotner said that Germany was working to reduce the time for issuance of student visas. “Now, we are aware that at the moment the waiting times are a bit too long and the embassy is working double time to reduce the length of the visa procedure,” he said, adding that students should also make their study plans well in time and avoid last-minute decisions.
New fields of cooperation, including renewable energy, green hydrogen, and the adoption of green technologies by industries in both countries as part of a collaboration to counter climate change, were also discussed by the two sides.